The highlight of Historicon '89 was the Guest of Honor, Don Featherstone, who was awarded the first JACK SCRUBY MEMORIAL AWARD at a banquet with over 100 attendees. The award (see photo) reads as follows: THE JACK SCRURY MEMORIAL AWARD FOR CRITICAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE HOBBY OF HISTORICAL MINIATURES WARGAMING The HMGS Jack Scruby Memorial Award. Don accepts the HMGS Jack Scruby Award from Dick Bryant. Todd Fisher and Leo Cronin (L to R) console Bob Coggins who is obviously upset that his and Craig Taylor's Napoleonic Rules by Avalon Hill won't be available until September. JACK SCRUBY Throughout the development of historical miniature wargaming there have been a small number of critical contributions which served to make the hobby the dymanic and fascinating activity that is enjoyed by so many people around the world today. Jack Scruby was the first person to make such a critical contribution, indeed, he might well be considered to the founder of the hobby as we know it. He provided three components the hobby needed: figures, players, and rules. He produced the first figures intended for use in gaming and he offered them in scales more suitable for table-top play than were the "toy soldiers" of the day. He expanded the scope of the hobby by producing figures in many historical periods. He also brought together players from around the United States and abroad through his publications: Wargames Digest, Table Top Talk, and The Miniature Parade. Gamers could share ideas in print and could locate other hobbyists who lived nearby. In these magazines, Jack published many important rule ideas which gave wargaming the richness it knows today; rules became historically based and incorporated all aspects of combat. He also produced a number of rule sets of his own and hosted some of the first wargames conventions in the U.S. What makes Jack special is that he would never take credit for that leadership. He would tell you that he was just having fun and you should do the same. The recipient of this award has been judged to demonstrate the same selfless level of contribution to the hobby as did Jack Scruby. DONALD FEATHERSTONE: 1989 Don's involvement with wargaming spans 30 years. During that time he has had such a tremendous impact on the hobby that, without question, it would not have developed as far as it has in that time. Duke Siefried presents Don with a memento of his visit last year. GHQ's Terrain Maker tiles in use, and winner of THE COURIER Best Terrain Award. Thanks to Don's prolific writing and public relations efforts, the hobby has attracted thousands of participants and gained stature as a mature and intellectual endeavor. It is doubtful that there is anyone in the hobby who has not read one of his over 20 books on the subject. While Little Wars inspired the earliest gamers, it was Don's book, Wargames, published in 1962, that served as the foundation of modern gaming. It covered various historical episodes and dealt with all aspects of warfare. For over 25 years he was involved in publishing the hobby's primary ry magazine. First, as the U.K. editor for Wargames Digest and then as editor of Wargamer's Newsletter, the longest running hobby publication and the example for all that followed. In 1961, Don organized the first UK national convention which served as the model for all that have occurred since. He continues to be active to this day, writing books and articles and participating in conventions in the U.S. and the U.K. Don Featherstone has served the hobby with the highest distinction, devoting his time to benefit all of us who might not have the hobby we have come to enjoy were it not for him. A special thanks is due to Bob Beattie who drafted these two remembrances. - ED. Duke Siefried also presented Don with a beautiful set of personalized painted figures representing gamers in Duke's wargame club in remembrance of Don's visit to Origins and Duke's home in 1988. After the dinner and award presentations, Don gave a most entertaining talk on the early hobby and its various well known personalities whose friendship he has gained over the years. Don is in a large part responsible for the 20% increase in attendees experienced this year - about 1400 people including dealers and guests! There were more dealers than ever (though a familiar face or two was missing) with an obvious increase in the number of people offering painted armies and terrain items. Every dealer I spoke to said this was his best convention ever for selling Historical items. Ed Mohrman seems to be saying "aren't I supposed to be running a game?" Larry Brom and his daughter agree. Duke Siefried's Rourke's Drift game. Many visitors from foreign lands were in evidence: Trevor Halsell of Newberry Rules; Danny Boreham of Battle Honors demonstrating his new computer controlled miniature game, "Eagle Bearer"; Duncan MacFarlane of Wargames Illustrated and Jose Neira, THE COURIER cartoonist from Ecuador were also spotted enjoying themselves at the tables. Besides the over 130 gaming events, the ancient tourneys were well attended. Scott Holder of NASAMW reports that over 110 players were involved. Besides the WRG events several new sets of Ancients rules were being explored: A to Z Ancients, Tactica (which, I understand, sold its complete first printing) and Empire's new ancient rules titled, I believe, Ancient Empire. I noted that most of the pick up games that I saw were Ancient games. There is no question that the Ancient period is alive, well and growing in our hobby and that everyone is having a good time irrespective of the gnashing of teeth among some splinter groups. Elsewhere in this issue the reader will find a battle report on the championship final. The overall results were: 25mm winner: Steve Simmons (Seleucid) 25mm runner up: Adam Weitz (Sicilian Hohenstaufen) 15mm winner: Rick Parrish (Hsiung-nu) 15mm runner up: Eric Turner (Late Imperial Rome) 25mm team winner: John Metcalf and James White (Seleucid) 15mm team winner: Wayne Dare and Ian Salisbury (Late Imperial Rome) Sportsman Award (from THE COURIER) Craig Tyrell 25mun Best Painted: Ben Pecson (Successor Byzantine) 15mm Best Painted: Steve Payne (Norse Irish) The National Championship Tournament was held at Historicon this year. Thirty six people qualified in previous heats, by special invitation, or Thursday evening. The "Final Four" were: Derek Downs and Chris Cameron (Florida), and Wayne Dare and Keith Smith (England). Derek and Keith advanced to the finals running Seleucids and Late Romans, respectively, with Derek defending the title he won last year in a close fought contest. Congratulations, Derek! The following business were very generous in their support of the Ancient events: Battle Honors, Irregular Miniatures, Minifigs, Ral Partha, Simtac, Viking Forge, Wargames, and Warriors. THE PAINTING COMPETITION Historicon always runs a well attended and well received painting competition. This year was no exception; the winners were: 25mm Army First Chris Hughes American Revolutionary War Army Second Steve Drake Confederate Army 23mm Unit First Joe Miceli Union infantry Second Steve Aleo Union Infantry 15mm Army First Patrick Burke Penninsula British Second Stephen Payne Irish Norse 15mm Unit First Mark Nichipor 4th Foot, Napoleonic Second Arnie Frantz 100 Years War 5mm Army First Nigel Marsh Napoleonic Second Ed Rohrbough Army of the Rhine 5mm unit First Hal Dyson Early West Germans Second John Drye 10th Guards Tank Naval First Mark Franke Red October HMGS VOTES NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS At their annual meeting held at Historicon, HMGS voted a new Board of Directors: Bob Coggins, Dick Sossi, Mike Montemareno, Leo Cronin, Todd Fisher, Pat Condray, and Wally Simon. Wally Simon later resigned leaving a committee of 6. HMGS members will get an After Action Report on the Convention that will contain more details of this and several bylaw amendments that were discussed. Thanks to Jay Hadley, Bob Coggins and Scott Holder for their inputs to this report. - ED. Courier Dispatch News of The Hobby Historicon 89 Convention Report HMGS Honors Featherstone Other News Product News Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. IX No. 1 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com